


Murphy's Law

by Shergar



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Jace tries to show off, M/M, Murphy's Law, ruined dates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:15:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27358630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shergar/pseuds/Shergar
Summary: Alec and Magnus try to have a nice dinner. What could go wrong?
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 3
Kudos: 53





	Murphy's Law

“Magnus, are you ready? Our reservation is at 6…” Alec asked, peaking into the bedroom trying to find his elusive boyfriend. “I know the restaurant is just a portal away but I’d like it if we had a little bit of wiggle room.”

“You can’t rush perfection, darling, but as it turns out, I am ready to go,” Magnus replied, meeting him in the doorway with a smile on his face. “Shall we go, Mr. Lightwood?” He asked, holding out his arm for Alec and snapping open a portal in front of them.

“After you, Mr. Bane.”

The portal deposited them in an alley across the street from the restaurant. They’d been on the waiting list for reservations for a month now. Alec didn’t think that any fine dining was worth that sort of wait but Magnus had assured him that his life would definitely be changed. Apparently, the restaurant was owned by some famous chef who won multiple awards for his cooking and was known for his avant-garde approach. Food was food, to Alec. Though after dating Magnus for the last few months, he was definitely starting to see that some food was better than others. 

They were seated by a no-nonsense man in a suit and Alec took a quick look around, noticing that everyone was dressed up. Magnus had warned that it was black-tie but saying and seeing were two separate things. He felt out of place here and slipped two fingers beneath the collar of his shirt, trying to loosen it, suddenly feeling a bit claustrophobic. “Relax, Alexander. You’re fine,” Magnus replied with a smile, grabbing his wrist and giving it a supportive squeeze. “Let’s just focus on dinner.”

“Right, dinner.” The waiter came by and Magnus ordered an appetizer and wine, continuing to hold his hand over the table and rub his thumb gently across Alec’s skin. He wasn’t sure what the warlock hard ordered, only that it paired with a glass of white wine. Their server brought out a stone dish filled with ice. As he placed it on the table, Alec could see that it was some sort of fancy oysters dish and relaxed just a hair. He might not be able to pronounce most of what was on the menu but as long as they kept to something even marginally familiar, he should be fine. 

They’d just finished the oysters when Alec’s phone vibrated and he glared at it, trying to will it into shutting up. Magnus stared at him, a bemused expression on his face and Alec sighed, watching as the screen faded into black. There was a minute of silence before it started vibrating again. “Just answer it, Love. You know you won’t be able to stop thinking about it if you don’t.”

“It’s just Izzy,” he muttered, staring at the caller ID as he picked it up. “I told them not to call me.”

“And if you don’t answer and something is seriously wrong, you’ll never forgive yourself. At least find out what’s going on. Maybe it’s something you can handle over the phone.”

Alec sighed, knowing that Magnus was right. He could kill them for interrupting his date later. Right now, he needed to figure out why his sister was calling him in the middle of dinner.

“Yes, Izzy? This better be good,” rolling his eyes as Magnus popped a piece of bread into his mouth and sucked the oil off his fingers just a little too long. “Or did you forget that I am 100% off duty tonight in a do not bother me or else sort of way?”

“Trust me, I did not forget. I did try to find another solution but Jace and Clary are across town and you’re the closest…” Izzy did, at the very least, sound apologetic. He had no doubt that she’d tried her hardest to find a different solution. “One of the patrols seems to have gotten into a scuffle with some out of town vampires. Normally, I’d say this is a learning opportunity but it’s one of the teams right out of the academy and the vampires are unknowns. You’re currently the closest. Do you think you can head over there and diffuse the situation before someone does something stupid like breaking the Accords?”

Alec sighed and reached up with his free hand to massage his temple. If either the vampires or his young Shadowhunters did something truly idiotic, the situation could escalate quickly and someone could die. He sighed and gave Magnus a sad smile. “What about Underhill? Are you absolutely sure that there isn’t anyone else who can handle the situation? We’ve had these reservations for months, Iz.”

“And I called you in only as a last resort. Please, Alec. The sooner you just pop over there, work some of your Head of the Institute magic and send everyone home, the sooner you can get back to your date.” He sighed and shook his head. “Fine, but you owe me. Text me an address.”

“Duty calls?” Magnus asked as Alec stood up and pocketed his phone. 

“Unfortunately,” He muttered, leaning down to kiss his boyfriend on the forehead. “Apparently some of the kids decided to pick a fight with some out of town vampires. Izzy needs me to go make sure no one dies… or dies again. I’m sorry to bail, I know we’ve been waiting for this night for a while.”

“I understand that a Shadowhunter’s work is never over. Let’s pay our tab and I’ll portal us over there. Two minds have got to be better than one. Maybe we can get everything sorted and go back to tonight’s activities.” He waggled his eyebrows and Alec groaned. 

“You don’t have to.”

“I know...but that’s what boyfriends do so let me help.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The situation was a bit more heated than his sister had let on and he mentally cursed himself for picking up the phone at all. By the time he and Magnus had stepped through the portal, fists and fangs were already flying. He grabbed a Shadowhunter by the back of the collar as the kid lunged past him. Magnus enveloped a vampire in a wave of blue magic, keeping him airborne. By the time they’d separated the two groups and sent them packing, at least an hour had passed and Alec sighed. He’d sent the Shadowhunters back to the Institute with a promise of three months of Ichor duty and Magnus had sent the vampires through a portal to the Hotel Dumort and a waiting Raphael Santiago.

“So much for the rest of our evening,” He muttered, taking in a small tear on the sleeve of his suit jacket. “Damn it, this was a new suit.”

“Nothing your warlock tailor can’t fix,” Magnus replied, snapping his fingers, the rip instantly vanishing with a barely noticeable flicker of blue. 

“Thanks,” Alec pulled out his phone and texted his sister, letting her know that the situation was handled and to consider him off duty. “It’s still early enough. You want to pick a different restaurant and try for dinner a second time?

“You read my mind,” Magnus replied with a smile, opening a portal for them. “How about steak?”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The second restaurant Magnus had picked was a nice steakhouse but, thankfully, nowhere near as fancy as the first place. They were seated without reservations and they both ordered as soon as the waitress came by. The scuffle had left Alec hungry and he would be damned if he was going to miss out on dinner a second time that night. 

Thankfully, the food came quickly and Alec sighed in relief as he took the first bite. “Oh thank the Angel,” He muttered, trying to ignore the amused expression on Magnus’ face. “I’m sure the other place was nice and well worth the wait, but I am perfectly happy with this outcome...sometimes simple is better.”

Magnus laughed and cut into his own steak. “I’m glad I can satisfy you,” he replied with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle. Alec had to resist the urge to groan and roll his eyes, fighting a blush that was rising in his cheeks.

He’d barely taken two more bites before a shadow outside had him tensing up. Magnus followed his eyes and they watched as a Shax demon turned into an alley across the street. Part of Alec wanted to text his sister and let someone else deal with it but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if something happened while he was waiting for one of the patrols to get there.  _ Damn it. _

“Go, Shadowhunter,” Magnus started, already flagging down their server to ask for their check. “I’ll meet you there. Don’t have too much fun without me.”

Alec leaned down to pull his boyfriend in for a quick kiss before heading towards the door. Once outside, he un-glamoured his bow and activated a few runes, pausing in the front of the alley to allow Magnus to catch up. “One way in,” He muttered as the warlock joined him. “Ready?”

Considering how well the earlier fight had gone over, Alec was relieved to find this one almost laughably simple. A few well-placed arrows, a well-timed burst of magic from Magnus, and the Shax demon was no more. “Well at least that’s over now,” He stated, stuffing the arrows he’d let off back into his quiver. “We should probably let Izzy know so that she can send a patrol this way to make sure there aren’t any more around…”

He reached for his phone but Magnus was quicker, sending off a fire message before Alec could even enter his password. “Shall we try for dinner one more time? I’m thinking somewhere a little less...jinxed.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Third time’s the charm, Alec thought, as they slid into a booth at a sports bar across town.  _ What else could possibly go wrong tonight _ ? It was like the universe was lining up to make sure that his date would not go according to plan. Alec liked plans...plans kept people alive. Nothing about tonight’s events had even tried to be anything close to a well-thought-out plan. And sure, he knew that you absolutely couldn’t plan for everything but this was just getting ridiculous now. All he had wanted was one nice dinner with his boyfriend. Was that too much to ask? They’d both been so busy lately that he felt that they had deserved this. 

They ordered a few rounds of appetizers (Alec gave up on getting an actual meal after the steakhouse, apparently they were just going to snack tonight) and settled into easy conversation. As the food came out, along with two cocktails that he hadn’t heard Magnus order, he let himself start to relax. Maybe they’d get to finish their date after all. 

Maybe. 

Probably not. 

He heard a crash and his head shot up, eyes catching the reflection of the scene outside in the mirror behind the bar. A wave of pain through his parabatai bond had Alec groaning as he watched the figure pick himself off the roof of a car and brush a few pieces of broken glass off his shirt.

“Mmm...that looks bad,” Magnus hummed watching the scene unfold.

“He’ll be fine,” he replied, biting into another slider as he focused on the mirror. “He’s had worse.” Magnus only raised an eyebrow in response and Alec huffed. “I’m going to kill him. If he’s not already dead, I’m going to kill him.” He mumbled, stalking out of the bar and over to his bruised and slightly broken parabati. Jace accepted the hand he held out without question and Alec glanced up to find Clary staring at them from the roof of the butcher shop. “At least tell me you took care of whatever it was and you don’t just fling yourself off of buildings for no reason.”

“It was a single demon. We took care of it. I uh...fell.”

“Right, off a roof apparently. You were showing off again. If you were a mundane, you’d be dead.” He replied as they were joined by Magnus and Clary. “Take him home and make sure he gets checked out by medical. Feel free to tell Izzy about why he ‘fell’ off a roof, I’m sure she’d love to give him an earful. And Jace? Don’t think for a minute that I’m done with you. Right now I’m going to go home, maybe get something to  _ eat _ since you all seem insistent on ruining my dinner and try to salvage what’s left of my evening.”

Thank the Angel for Magnus, he thought as he heard the unmistakable sound of a portal opening up behind him. He stepped through, trusting the warlock to follow behind him and was relieved when he stepped into Magnus’ loft on the other side.

“Magnus, look…” He started as the portal closed behind them. “I’m sorry about tonight.”

“Relax, Angel. Sometimes these things happen. How about we forgo any attempt on trying to eat out and just get take out and stay in the rest of the night?”

“You read my mind.”

**Author's Note:**

> That very last one is absolutely based off a panel of Clint Barton from Edmondson's Black Widow run.


End file.
